After leaving the Isle of Skye, we headed back to the Highlands. Our first stop was a night in Glencoe before a ride on the Hogwarts Express (aka The Jacobite Steam Train). Sadly, it did not bring us to Hogwarts and while Mallaig is a perfectly lovely working fishing village in Scotland, it’s doesn’t have quite the same magic.

The Jacobite Steam Train

The train ride is a roundtrip adventure that leaves from Fort Williams. We had tickets for the morning trip, so unfortunately didn’t have much time to explore Glencoe. After a quick breakfast, we headed to the train station which was intown.

As we settled into our seats, we started chatting with our seatmates who were from “the borders” which is the southern part of Scotland that borders northern England. Their daughter had gifted them a trip on the train. Many of our fellow passengers were from Scotland.

As the countryside past by our window, we waited in anticipation of seeing the GlenfinnanViaduct. It’s an iconic view familiar to Harry Potter movie fans. While you can only get a small glimpse of the viaduct from the train, it was enough to bring a smile to my face. I was stunned by the number of people waiting by the viaduct so they could take a pictures as the train went over the bridge. There were so many people!

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